


How often do you? (Think about it)

by jesterkisses



Category: Les Dalton | The Daltons (Cartoon), Lucky Luke (Bande Dessinée)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Brotherly Love, Disaster Bisexual Joe Dalton, Drabble Collection, Enemies to Lovers, Family Drama, Fluff, Foe Yay, Headaches & Migraines, I project onto literally everyone in this fic i am indulging, I'm a sucker for Averell & Luke content they're friends, Implied mental illness, Insomnia, Jack and William have bigger roles than in the cartoons and get character development, Joe probably has AD(H)D, Luke is like 25 and the Daltons are in their early thirties, Lukejoe, M/M, Sharing a Bed, So it's basically Lukejoe but they're enemies and gay, This is like really really soft and gay, Unresolved Romantic Tension, William is the second tallest and Jack is the second shortest
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-10-11
Packaged: 2020-06-23 14:02:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 2,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19702831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jesterkisses/pseuds/jesterkisses
Summary: i went sicko mode and wrote ll drabblesthese r kinda old but i love em anyways





	1. When the heat is blisterin'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The effort is worth it if it gets you lemonade, at least Joe Dalton thinks that way. Averell, not so much so. In fact, he doesn't think at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title is a lyric from the song "Bodega" by Your Neighbors! This is my first fic so go easy on me! Thank you for reading :)

No clouds could be seen in the sky that day. The Dalton brothers had been working for hours on end as always.

"I can't take this anymore Joe!" Averell cried out.  
"C'mon Averell, just a few rocks and we'll get the lemonade the warden promised. And no breaks!" Joe yelled at his little brother, breaking rocks faster than his sworn enemy Lucky Like shot.  
"But Joe, the blisters on my hands would give me a break, right blisters?"

Joe sighed as his moronic brother kept talking to his own hands. At least they were getting lemonade out of this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's title was inspired by "Valentine" by Atlas!


	2. Nobody else but us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucky Luke visits the Daltons in the prison, keeping his eye on them for a night. When desperate times call for desperate measures, Joe does what he knows is right for himself.

Sharing a bed with a brother was one thing but sharing one with Lucky Luke was out of the question. That was what Joe Dalton had thought when Lucky Luke was asked to "babysit" the Dalton brothers.

 _'Pff, babysit'_ Joe had thought. _'Ain't no one gonna babysit Joe Dalton, the evilest man in the whole wide world'_

  
However, when Luke had arrived, he briefly explained that he was called to the prison for an experiment of sorts. If the Daltons could behave one single night around Luke, their sentence would be shortened.  
Weird experiments but it's a prison, what can you do?

What Joe was not expecting was to have the worst headache in the world along with his insomnia he had inherited from his late father.  
Joe sighed and despite the rage building deep inside him, he tried to be on his best behavior (for once)  
Luke sat on the mattress in the corner, chewing on a thin straw, humming some lullaby his mother had sung to him since he was a kid.  
Joe tried to lie as quietly as possible and pretended to be asleep but it was nearly impossible. However, his eyes were starting droop every time Luke whistled the chorus of his song.  
If only Joe could hear it better...  
Joe sighed and got up from his bed. He knew what he was about to do and he didn't like it one bit.

"Why hello there Joe, can't sleep? Need me to tuck ya in?" Luke suggested with that oh-so-familiar smirk Joe had gotten to know over the years.  
"Listen up cowboy I need ya to do s'mthing for me. Neither of us ain't gonna like it but I'd rather not stay up all night. I got plans to plan and tunnels to dig." Joe snarled at the now confused Luke.  
"Eh, sure? What would that be Joe?"  
"Erm.. e-err.." Joe stuttered, sweating buckets.

"If it's not too much to ask Luke, would you mind singing that song to me?"  
Joe muttered, barely above a whisper.

"Ah, it's not a problem." Luke smiled.  
"W-well y'see here's the thing.. I'd also like you to hold me... like _ma_ used to."  
Joe stammered, face red as tomatoes.

Luke was definitely caught by surprise, letting out a chuckle or two.  
"WHAT'RE YOU LAUGHING AT COWBOY?!? I COULD **KILL** **YOU**!" Joe yelled, but not startling the stoic cowboy.  
"Settle down Joe, you'll wake up your brothers. Like I said it ain't no problem. Come here, now." Luke spoke with confidence that no one could match.

Joe sat next to Luke on the mattress and pressed his big head onto Luke's pajama shirt. Luke began to softly hum the song, making Joe feel more tired than ever.  
He was going to regret this later but this wasn't the time to worry about consequences.

_'Everything feels okay for once'_

Joe thought as the warm scent of Luke filled his nose and made him feel tender. This felt almost as good as home.

-

"Should we wake him?" Jack whispered.  
  
"I don't think so, he looks like a little baby sleepin' like that on Luke" William whispered back

"Awww, Joe is a baby! He is a baby again!" Averell yelled.

"Shut up Averell!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ended up being longer than I expected, hope you enjoy!


	3. Blood is thicker than water - Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything feels different when Joe is gone.

Joe had simply disappeared. He was nowhere to be found. It wasn't unusual for him to wander off but his occasional walks had always been short and not enough to worry his brothers. 

"Well gee Jack, do ya think Joe will be back?" Averell questioned the shorter brother.   
"Of course he will, he would never leave us, we're family!" Jack responded with confidence in his voice.

Still, those words weren't as confident as the way Jack spoke them. Joe had been gone for 3 days already.   
What exactly had Joe gotten himself into?

After 5 long days, the prisons gates were opened, only to reveal Joe standing behind them, looking like nothing but his usual self.  
The bags under his eyes were an indication that his insomnia was acting up again and his fingers were full of bruises, some of his own doing and some wounds made by others.

His brothers rushed to the gates to hug him.   
"Joe, we've missed you so much! Where in the Lord's name have you been?" William asked while hugging Joe and his two other brothers. To his surprise, Joe pushed him away. Of course, Joe had never been a hug person, but this was out of character even for him.   
"I don't want you dumb idiots hanging on me anymore, I've decided to do things solo from now on." Joe announced with a hint of regret in his voice.


	4. Blood is thicker than water - Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ever since Joe's and his brothers' reunion, everything had changed. Joe had completely isolated himself from his brothers and pretty much everyone else as well.

Ever since Joe's and his brothers' reunion, everything had changed. Joe had completely isolated himself from his brothers and pretty much everyone else as well.

"I just don't get it William, what did we ever do to Joe?" Averell asked before shoveling food in his mouth.  
"Well obviously we've done _something_ , knucklehead. I just think he's had enough of us for good this time." William responded, seemingly unfazed.   
The two brothers turned to Jack, waiting for him to comment on the issue, but he stayed silent. He was understandably upset, after all, out of the three brothers, he had been the closest to Joe.

"Oh cheer up Jack, let's show Joe we can do well even without him to boss us around." William comforted his older brother while finishing the last bit of food on his plate.

That night the only sound that could be heard was the howling of the coyotes and the sound of tunnel digging. After the 3 brothers had made it out safely, they stopped for a moment to breathe.

"See fellers, I told ya we could do it without Joe!" William whispered happily.  
"But I'm not sure I want to do this without him. Didn't we make a promise to escape together? We're family!" Jack exclaimed.  
"But Joe already is there, don't ya see? Hello Joe! Nice night out here ain't it?" Averell yelled to the silhouette in the distance.  
Jack and William ran to Joe as quick as possible, Averell right behind them.

"What are you three idiots doing here? You're gonna ruin my plans!" Joe barked.  
"Joe, I know we might be a couple of idiots but at the very least we're brothers. We promised to make it out together and that's what we're gonna do." Jack interrupted.  
"Yeah, and what's with this whole 'going solo' -thing Joe? What did we ever do to you?" William continued.  
"DON'T YOU NUMBSKULLS GET IT? I AM DONE WITH YOUR IDIOCY, I AM OBVIOUSLY SMARTER THAN ALL THREE OF YOUS AND THAT'S WHAT MATTERS!" Joe yelled furiously while stomping on the ground, creating a cloud of dust.

Suddenly the sirens of the prison started blaring and a couple of guards ran out from the gates to capture the brothers. Joe's scream had apparently alerted them.

The next morning Joe seemed to be lost in thought. After a very long period of time, he eventually marched up to his conversing brothers and cleared his throat. The brothers went completely silent in an instant.  
"Y'know what I've been thinking about? I've been thinking about last night. And how YOU 3 COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY RUINED MY PLANS!" Joe's voice echoed through the small cell.  
"But Joe, you were the one who yelled! Oh, you're so forgetful!" Averell reminded.

It took all of Joe's self-control to not smack his brother on the head and he managed to continue:  
"What I'm trying to say was... We were caught together, and I had assumed it would have come to that anyway. And I understand if you don't want me around anymore but I-i..." Joe's words trailed off.

"It's all fine Joe, we accept your apology!" Jack smiled warmly at his brother.  
Joe smiled back at him and was caught in an intense embrace by the now crying Averell and his two other brothers.

This time he didn't pull away and let his brothers hold him close.


	5. The world is a scary place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ma Dalton offers little Joe a bit of advice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I absolutely adore Ma Dalton and I had to write something about her so here's this! :"D

The dull moonlight shone in from the window, coating the whole room in a silvery light.

Joe laid awake in his bed, staring at the ceiling, the ceiling being the bottom of his brother's bed.

He sighed and suddenly heard the familiar creak of the door. Ma Dalton was standing in the doorway with a warm glass of milk.  
She sat on the edge of Joe's bed and handed him the glass.

"Be polite now Joe. What d'ya say when you get something?"

"Thank you Ma"  
Joe said reluctantly, gulping down the entire glass.  
"I don't know what to do with ya, Joe. Do you have something on your mind keeping you awake like this?" Ma asked, gently stroking Joe's hair.

"Ma, when I grow up, am I gonna be a famous criminal too? Like daddy?" Joe whispered with uncertainty in his voice.  
"I'm sure of it Joe, your pop woulda appreciated you following in his footsteps. Just remember that there will always be people trying to put ya down, and you gotta put them down for putting you down!"  
Ma Dalton replied with a smile. Joe grinned in the childlike way he always did and laid his head back onto the pillow.

Ma tucked Joe in again and made her way out of her sons' room, the moonlight dancing on her dress. On the way out she thought to herself:

_"That boy is gonna get himself into one hell of a trouble one day"_


	6. I've been dying to catch you dizzy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joe just gets all flustered about Lucky Luke. It gets gay. Very gay.

The day was coming to an end. The sun was already going down but Joe Dalton still had a lot to think about.

Their escape hadn't gone smoothly. That was nothing new. However, Joe had gotten to see his arch nemesis Lucky Luke once again. Oh, how he _loathed_ Lucky Luke.  
He loathed _feeling_ this way. Sometimes he loathed feeling at all.

Whenever he saw Luke's arrogant face Joe felt something deep inside him melt. Perhaps it was hate, perhaps it was something else. Joe's attraction (the very limited attraction he experienced) to both genders was nothing new but this was outrageous. He wasn't supposed to be feeling this way towards his damn enemy.

But every time Lucky Luke smiled, laughed in his husky voice, rode Jolly Jumper into the sunset or even arrested him and his brothers, Joe couldn't help but wish things were different. _Oh_ , how he wished he could wipe that smug grin of off the cowboy's face. He would do anything to finally have Lucky Luke completely at his mercy and all to himself.  
Even the thought of it made his skin hot and head spin in more ways than one.

The blinding light of the setting sun made Joe's flushed skin burn even brighter. He breathed raggedly but only once more.

Perhaps he had fallen for the lonesome cowboy, but he would _never_ admit it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's title was inspired by the song "Dizzy on the comedown" by Turnover


	7. The night two worlds met

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Averell gets separated from his brothers and meets a very special someone.

Averell stood on the gravel dumbfounded. He really was lost. How in the world was he going to find his brothers in the middle of the night like this?

"Hey Averell, out here for a stroll in the moonlight?" Lucky Luke's familiar voice greeted.

Averell turned around and faced the cowboy, sitting on a large rock right above him.

"Well not really. Y'see me and my brothers were escapin' and I got lost and now I'm sad" Averell explained with a frown.  
Luke laughed quietly at Averell's honesty and jumped down from the rock.

"I'll help you find your brothers Averell. Let's get going." Luke smiled, getting on Jolly Jumper.

"Thank you mister Luke! Yknow, you ain't as bad as Joe says."


	8. Don't take me tongue tied

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke has once again successfully captured the Dalton brothers, but now he has other things to worry about than taking them back to the penitentiary.

It was way past lunchtime at Nothing Gulch and Lucky Luke's stomach was rumbling like crazy.  
The last time he had eaten was yesterday, he had been running after the Daltons the whole night and although the capture had been successful, the cowboy had tired himself out.

"What's t'matter Lucky Luke? Not feeling too well?" Joe grinned from the horse next to Luke. His tiny hands struggled against the ropes.  
"I think he's hungry Joe! Or maybe the rumbling's from a nearby earthquake?" Averell shouted from next to Joe.  
Joe began to wildly struggle against the ropes, ready to smack his idiotic brother.

Lucky Luke just smiled and sighed.  
Luke knew it was useless to listen to the Daltons argue, especially when he was about to pass out from hunger. Instead of talking back to them, Luke decided it would be nice to stop by the nearest town and soon enough he and the four Daltons were comfortably seated in a restaurant booth with a more than enough amount of food.

"Y'know what Lucky Luke, I was starting to get a bit hungry" Averell announced from behind William.

"Shut your yap, Averell. Sorry Luke, but we'd rather starve than eat anything that you've bought for us. _Right_ _boys_?" Joe gazed over to his brothers, and the emotion draining from his face as he saw his brothers already shoveling the food down made Luke laugh discreetly.

"Tough luck Joe. If I were you I'd eat something, that trip to prison isn't going to be exactly easy on your stomach later."

Joe's face turned red from anger and he began to spit curses at the eating cowboy. Lucky Luke of course didn't even hear him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's title is a lyric from "Tongue tied" by Grouplove


	9. Forget about it for a while

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joe and Luke have a surprisingly tender moment or two.

Joe sighed as Luke continued to sip on his lemonade.

The two of them sat quietly on the stools of the saloon for a while, until Lucky Luke finally spoke up:

"So what really lead you to be a criminal in the first place?"

Joe's expression changed completely from bored to confused.

"If it's personal, forget I asked, Joe" Luke smiled understandingly at the criminal.

It's not that it was personal to Joe at all, in fact, despite being a criminal, his childhood had been rather pleasant. Never in his life had he expected Lucky Luke to ask that question.

To Luke's surprise, _Joe Dalton_ of all people began telling about his childhood.

The two men sat in the saloon until sunset, just talking about how they were raised and how their lives were growing up.

Luke sat up first and motioned to Joe to get up as well. Joe followed as the tired cowboy made his way out of the saloon that was drowned in the color of the sun before it hid behind the mountains.

Joe Dalton and Lucky Luke stood outside for what felt like days and waited for the night to fall in Nothing Gulch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This work is going on hiatus for a few weeks since I'm going on vacation. Thank you for reading and stay tuned!


	10. Rain Dance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fabulous Falcon's rain dance works for once.

The shiny droplets of water continued to hit the penitentiary's uneven ground.

Jack groaned and shifted in his bed, eyeing the window.

On the other side of Nothing Gulch, William lay inside Fabulous Falcon's tipi, listening to the rain hitting its roof while holding him close.

The vile sound of a spoon hitting the gravel made Jack flinch. Joe's angry growls echoed through the stale jail cell.

Somewhere far away, a cowboy is brushing his horse, sitting on the wet grass and talking to himself as the rain continues to fall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for being patient! This work is back from hiatus and I'm so happy to be back :)


	11. You're so sly behind your glasses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> William gets glasses. Things change

This is ridiculous.  
_"I look ridiculous"_  
That's what William had thought when he had gotten his glasses.  
Of course, he could see things clearly now, but would his brothers ever stop teasing him about his glasses?

No. And for a good reason too.

No Dalton has ever worn glasses, well, except for _Ma_.  
Daltons aren't smart or wise, they're supposed to be terrifying and even the mention of their name is supposed to give you that sinking feeling in your gut.

_"Ehhh, they're not that bad? If you want to look like a dork, you're doing great!"_  
Fabulous Falcon had said. The one person William thought would've supported him.

He couldn't care less about what people thought of him, the only thing that matters is that he's feared. But now his sight had started to affect their crimes as well.

He and his brothers had robbed a bank, well, almost robbed a bank. People wouldn't stop laughing at William and his glasses and they had gotten caught almost immediately. He could never hear the end of it, even his inmates still teased him about it to this day.

However, it all changed when _Joe Dalton_ , of all people, got glasses. The tables had turned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY FOR THE LOOONG HIATUS. LIFE'S BEEN BUSY!!!! I'm back,, my writing's a bit rusty but I'll write something good soon, i promise!
> 
> the lyric in the title is from "ok" by bulldog eyes!


End file.
